NCAA Tournament 2013: What they're saying about those upstart Shockers

Wichita State's Carl Hall celebrates after his team defeated Ohio State 70-66 in the West Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Both Wichita State and Syracuse get to keep their dancing shoes on following big wins Saturday, while Ohio State and Marquette head home without a championship after falling short of the Final Four.

Here's a look at some of the national reaction to Saturday's Elite Eight victories by the Shockers and the Orange:

Wichita State 70, Ohio State 66

• Columnist Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer writes that Wichita State's latest upset victory — already its third win over a higher seed in this tournament — might not be such a shock, after all:

So was that a Cinderella team bringing in the sheaves? Or a better team in a single-elimination tournament that ran Ohio State through a defensive thresher?

"I don't think we're Cinderella at all," said Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall. "If you get to this point, you can win the whole thing. We beat a No.1 seed and a No. 2. I think Cinderella just found one glass slipper. I don't think she found four."

• While the Shockers' run to the Final Four was unexpected, Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star writes that "this march to the Final Four is no more improbable than Wichita State's first, in 1965, when the Shockers lost their two best players at midseason":

That’s right. Wichita State carried on after the semester break without two future first-round NBA Draft picks — one of which was perhaps the greatest player in team history — and still logged the program’s greatest achievement until this year.

• Leaning on a variety of players is one of the main reasons Wichita State is still dancing, according to Kelli Anderson of Sports Illustrated. Against Ohio State, it was senior point guard Malcom Armstead who keyed the win with a big game against the Buckeyes' Aaron Craft:

Not only did Armstead not get killed by Craft, he had a field day against the vaunted defensive star, getting to the rim at will and hitting two of six threes on the way to 14 points in the Shockers’ 70-66 win. The rest of his line: Seven rebounds, two assists, three steals, three turnovers and four fouls. Meanwhile Craft had just two three-pointers (on 2-for-11 shooting) and three free throws for nine points.

The Orange have made teams seriously look like they have never practiced against a zone. Montana wasn't even close. Cal gave the Orange a game but had to grind out every single basket. Indiana's Cody Zeller played as if he were a small guard. Marquette, which beat Syracuse earlier in the season, still was brutal against the zone, constantly waiting until the end of each possession, only to hoist shots that seemed to have no chance.